Q: Are we feeding our dog enough?

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Our daschund Gracee is 7 mos. old and we feed her at 5:30am and 5:00pm with treats in between. Lately she gets up during the night to go out, sometimes twice but mainly once around 4:00am. When she comes in she wants to eat. I give her a few small bones and she will go back to bed and exactly 1 hr. later she is up again and ready to eat. Last night I tried giving her a little of her food at 11pm after I took her out but she still got up during the night.

What can I do?

Readers' Answers (1)

There are feeding guidelines printed on most dog foods to help you with amounts. I would keep feeding her twice a day for now though. She's still a puppy and growing so she's going to require more calories for energy and nutrition for development. Lots of times it's not how much but what you're feeding that is the problem. OTC or grocery store brand foods are mostly grains and fillers which a dog's body can't break down and use. They get less nutrition, use less of the food and eliminate more of it. Because they don't get the full benefit of the food, they're hungry more often. I know premium foods have a high price tag, but your dog will eat less because her body is using more and as an added benefit, she'll produce less waste.. So in the long run, it's cheaper to buy premium foods. Their health will be better too. Corn, a common additive in the OTC foods, is an allegen, plus a dog can't break down corn in their digestive tract.